The best gig on TV

MIKE McDANIEL Staff - Houston Chronicle

Johnathan Walton must have the best beat in television. Channel 11 pays him to go out and do stories with the oddest people in Houston.

It suits him well, because clearly this fearless reporter suffers from Otis Disorder, an affliction, common among people in the media, in which the elevator doesn't always rise to the top.

But that's why we love him, right?

Clearly the folks at KHOU love him, which is why he's back with yet another compilation of stories that previously aired on Channel 11's morning news show.

The latest edition, The Best of Walton's World Summer Blowout!, features Johnathan with a kite flier, Johnathan with a Power Ranger turned karate instructor, Johnathan with a rubber-band-ball maker, Johnathan ... well, you get the idea.

Tonight's 30-minute special (7 p.m., Channel 11) is fast-moving and fun-filled, with Walton, as usual, the butt of his own jokes. He eats Blue Bell ice cream rejects out of the garbage, gets nipped by a Frisbee-loving dog and gets ridiculed by patrons at Galveston's Schlitterbahn.

Enjoy.

TV FEATURE / Jump on the Walton slam-wagon

MIKE MCDANIEL Staff - Houston Chronicle

This week and next, most of the TV lineups will be Rerun City because the networks think most people are on holiday or too busy to focus on matters of the tube.

But what's bad for the networks is good for local stations, which can trot out special programs without fear of interrupting that can't-miss episode of "Yes, Dear."

It gives Channel 11's resident humorist Johnathan Walton a chance to hang out in garbage dumpsters, and there's nothing wrong with that. In fact, host humiliation is the theme of "The Best of Walton's World Gone Wild!" (7:30 tonight, Channel 11).

When he's not losing his pants on the tennis court or being rebuked by a 17-year-old cellist, Walton's getting verbally and physically abused by his pals on tonight's half-hour special.

It is tempting to pile on and slam the show, except it moves so briskly and Walton's self-destruction is so complete, it seems a waste of time and ink. However, for the record (and this, after all, is a record of Walton's best reporting for 2005), the gadfly's visits with a Krispy Kreme doughnut maker, the head pro at Westside Tennis Club and the abusive cellist with the Houston Civic Symphony are worth catching if you can.

And if you're curious about what an "alternative lifestyle Darth Vader" or a "toilet plunger hickey" might look like, Walton spares no self-respect in showing us. Enjoy.

Walton's special is preceded by the unpreviewed "Houston Zooperstars Challenge", which promises to reveal the winning team of 9- to 12-year-olds who have been competing in a zoo-based contest all fall. Jeffrey Gardner hosts (7 p.m., Channel 11).

Finally, "The After Party "gets into the holiday spirit with a Christmas-themed edition and an audience of schoolchildren. Host Ernie Manouse welcomes special guests Ebenezer Scrooge and Santa Claus and reads from "'Twas the Night Before Christmas. "There's also a medley of songs from Wesley Landry and a special surprise at the end.

Too bad this edition, aimed at children, airs only at 11 tonight on Channel 8. At least we who are children at heart can tune in.